A year ago, roughly one in ten buy-side investment managers was using AI in their front offices. Today, that number is seven in ten. According to SimCorp’s 2026 InvestOps Report published in early June, 70% of buy-side firms now actively deploy AI tools in their front-office operations. That’s a sevenfold increase from the roughly 10% figure recorded in 2025.
The money flowing into AI is staggering
Goldman Sachs pegged AI-related capital expenditure consensus for hyperscalers at $527 billion for 2026, a figure published in December 2025. Financial institutions specifically are projected to allocate about 2% of their revenues to AI in 2026, according to BCG’s January 2026 estimates.
Morgan Stanley and BlackRock have both made significant investments in AI technologies, deploying tools across portfolio optimization, trading strategy development, and operational workflows.
Portfolio managers are using AI to run scenario analyses that would have taken teams of quants weeks to complete. Trading desks are deploying models that can adjust positions in response to real-time data feeds. Compliance teams are using AI to monitor the AI, scanning for regulatory risks in automated decision-making processes.
